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Club Brugge: Five things to know about Man United's opponents Manchester United take on Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs over the next week. Here we pick out five things you may not know about the Belgian outfit. They're suffering a hangover from last season Club Brugge played a record 63 matches last campaign, the last of which was on May 24. The players had only a month off before resuming training ahead of the Belgian Super Cup on July 16. Last season was hugely successful, albeit not quite as successful as once hoped. Michel Preud'homme's side won the Belgian Cup and, after a run of 15 games unbeaten in the Europa League, they lost 1-0 to eventual runners-up Dnipro in Ukraine in the quarterfinals. But they paid a price for their epic European campaign. Having lost only three games from 30 in the regular season, the Blauw-Zwart's title challenge crumbled in April and May. Hampered by mental and physical fatigue as well as injuries, they trailed in their first eight championship playoff matches and lost four of them. Instead of Brugge ending a 10-year wait for the title, Gent took advantage to become champions for the first time. Brugge pipped Anderlecht to second place to earn a place in the Champions League but last season has taken its toll. They were beaten at newly promoted Sint-Truiden in their opening league fixture and, apart from the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos, they've looked some way short of their best. Their captain is a machine Preud'homme told a nice anecdote about Timmy Simons last season. The story goes that every so often the club captain allows himself to have chips in a restaurant. Once Simons gets halfway home that night, however, he stops the car and gets out. While his wife drives the rest of the way, Simons jogs the final six to 10 kilometres. Such dedication meant that Simons sat out just one match last season. The former PSV and Nurnberg defensive midfielder started all but three of the others. He was substituted in only one game he started, playing over 5,300 minutes. That achievement stands out more when you realise that Simons, who won 93 caps for Belgium, turns 39 in December. He has slogged away for two decades and captained every club he has played for. On Aug. 10, 2000, Simons made his Club Brugge debut against Flora Tallinn of Estonia. Though his powers and what little pace he had are on the wane, it seems fitting that he should finally get to grace Old Trafford. It will be his 70th European game for Brugge and the 750th competitive game of his career. Preud'homme has a habit of ending long waits Club Brugge hadn't won a trophy since 2007 before Lior Refaelov's stunning, injury-time volley saw them beat Anderlecht in the Belgian Cup final in March. Brugge's 51st match of a taxing season had come less than 72 hours after they had beaten Liverpool's conquerors Besiktas in the Europa League in Turkey -- a result that saw the Belgian club reach the last eight of a UEFA competition for the first time in 20 years. Preud'homme was hoisted aloft during the celebrations. As a player he had been in the last Belgian team to win a European competition, keeping a clean sheet in Mechelen's win over Ajax in the 1988 European Cup Winners' Cup final. Also part of the last Standard Liege squad to win the league, as manager Preud'homme ended their 25-year wait to win it again in 2008. He followed up by guiding Gent to their first Belgian Cup success in 26 years and FC Twente to their first Dutch Cup win for 10 years. Preud'homme is a patient, shrewd tactician. The 56-year-old is not afraid to back younger players and his substitutions often proved decisive last season. A proven cup specialist, he'll relish the challenge of trying to lead Blauw-Zwart to the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2005. They have a goalkeeping problem As winner of the goalkeeper of the tournament award at the 1994 World Cup, Preud'homme is well aware of how important the position can be. The former Benfica keeper was blessed to have Mathew Ryan at his disposal for the past two seasons and the Australian was twice named the Belgian league's goalkeeper of the year. Ryan's departure for Valencia this summer left a massive hole that Brugge had to fill quickly. New signing Sebastien Bruzzese from Zulte Waregem was their only senior keeper so Preud'homme responded by signing Sinan Bolat on loan from Porto. The Turkish international did well at Standard Liege but failed to establish himself at the Portuguese giants. He spent much of the past two seasons on loan and featured just 12 times for Galatasaray last term. Bolat was not considered sharp enough to start in recent weeks, meaning that Bruzzese, the second-choice keeper at Zulte Waregem over the past three seasons, was thrust into action. He made a costly error on the opening day of the Belgian league season but the 26-year-old has since kept three clean sheets in four games -- though Bolat could still get the call at Old Trafford. They have the players to hurt United ... but many of them are injured Brugge's injury problems are so bad that they felt compelled to publish a lengthy website article last week in which the medical staff outlined the prognosis for 10 players concerned. The two biggest losses for Brugge are perhaps Israeli attacking midfielder Lior Refaelov, who weighed in with 18 goals last season, and Colombian winger Jose Izquierdo. The latter finished as their top scorer in the league with 13 goals, many of them as eye-catching as his dribbling ability. New right-back Dion Cools has proved an exciting substitute for the injured Thomas Meunier, while Costa Rica international Oscar Duarte should shake off a knock to add steel at centre-back. Blauw-Zwart will be hoping for a big performance from Victor Vazquez, who also has had fitness concerns. The Spanish playmaker came through the ranks at Barcelona with Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas and was recently voted the Belgian league's player of the season. Even without his partner in crime Refaelov, Vazquez has the vision to unlock any defence. Box-to-box midfielder Ruud Vormer worked under Louis van Gaal at AZ Alkmaar and Abdoulay Diaby's movement could cause United problems. Striker Tom De Sutter has agreed to join Bursaspor after the second leg so he'll be keen to finish with a flourish, while speedy attacker Tuur Dierckx is one of the few Brugge players to be in red-hot form this season.
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发表于 17-8-2015 11:25 PM
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足球员罢了，恐怖。。
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